Christina Kubisch

Mono Fluido

imprec327
CD

CD, $12.99

Mondo Fluido collects two major compositions from Christina Kubisch which, until now, have been unreleased. Extensive liner notes & photographs detail the origins of the work. Heavy drones and deep emotions run through these newly discovered pieces.

"In 1980 I had the possibility to make some professional recordings on an eight track tape in an Italian sound studio for the sound track of the film "Liquid movie" by Fabrizio Plessi. Some months after having finished the sound track I listened to the material again and suddenly felt the desire to make a new piece out of the material, which would be free of the limitations of a cinematic sound track.I made several new downmixes of the eight track tape and treated some of the sounds with a speed control device, one of the few tools which I had available in my own studio at that time.The sound sources are flute (alto and bass flute) played by myself, the sounds of swinging plastic tubes in the air, the recordings of the windscreen wiper ("tergicristallo") of my old car, the sampled sounds of glass and of my own breathing. Just pure instrumental sounds and some "field recordings", no electronics.The piece is a quiet piece of ambient music, an acoustic landscape, unspectacular and yet intense. I called it "fluido", which is the Italian word for liquid or fluid. Then I forgot about it.The tape was in my archive all these years with the remark Mono Fluido on the spine. Only recently I decided to digitize it, despite the mono tag, and I listened to it again. Eventually I thought the piece deserved to be published after almost 30 years.Although mono is kind of a dinosaur in the world of multichannel fiction I like the simplicity and clarity of it and I hope the listener might share this experience."Christina Kubisch December 2010

Christina Kubisch belongs to the first generation of sound artists. Trained as a composer, she studied painting, music (flute and composition) and electronics in Hamburg, Graz, Zürich and Milano, where she graduated. Her work can be described as the “synthesis of arts” - the discovery of acoustic space and the dimension of time in the visual arts on the one hand, and a redefinition of relationships between material and form on the other. Kubisch is best known for artistically and innovatively using techniques such as magnetic induction and ultraviolet light to create and realise her work.Since the 1970’s Kubisch has been experimenting with electromagnetic induction and was one of the first to use this method for creating sound installations. Some of her most well know works include the Electrical Walks series, where audience wear magnetic headphones, specially designed by Kubisch, with built-in coils that respond to electrical fields in the environment. Tapping into the electrical fields that result from light systems, anti-theft security devices, surveillance cameras, cell phones, computers, antennae, automated teller machines and other electric devices, she uses these visible sources to create unique and new sensory environmental experiences.

In the mid-1980s, Kubisch began to incorporate light as a compositional tool in many works, for example in the installation Skylines at the documenta 8, Kassel; the underground installation Klang Fluß Licht Quelle on Potsdamer Platz in Berlin and more recently Licht Himmel a permanent light sound installation at Gasometer Oberhausen, Germany. Since 2003 Kubisch has begun to work again as a performer and collaborates with various musicians and dancers, one of whom is Lotta Melin, with whom she will be co-facilitating the Lisbon workshop. An internationally recognised artist, Kubisch has shown work at major international exhibitions and festivals (Venice Benniale, documenta 8, Kassel, Ars Electronica, Linz, Sydney Benniale, Sonar, Barcelona and Sonic Boom, London) performing around the world she has received numerous grants and awards and her music has been realised on various labels such as Cramps Records and Edition RZ. Kubisch has been visiting professor in Maastricht, Paris and Berlin and since 1994, is currently the professor for sound art at the Academy of Fine Arts, Saarbrücken, Germany.

TRACK LISTING

Mondo FluidoOcigam Trazom

REVIEWS

The two long tracks that make up this album were recorded by sound artistChristina Kubisch in 1981 and 1985. The first, "Mondo Fluido," is areworking of material originally recorded for a film soundtrack; itssource material consists of analog recordings of flutes, a windshieldwiper, tubes being whirled in the air, glass, and the composer's voice. Asmixed-down and manipulated by Kubisch, the sounds become layers of droneswith microscopically subtle rhythmic undertones; to listen to this pieceon open-air speakers is to find yourself wondering where the recordedmusic ends and the noises of your environment begin. Imagine a blend ofwhale songs, alpenhorns, and conch shells layered with the faint sounds ofbreaking waves and the chittering of mechanical birds in thebackground‹fascinating and strangely moving. "Ocigam Trazom" was designedas a sound installation for an exhibition celebrating Mozart's opera TheMagic Flute (read the title backwards; get it?). Kubisch's installationallowed listeners to walk underneath a network of cables wearingspecially-designed headphones that produced different sounds depending onthe listener's location (each spatial and sonic zone representing adifferent character in the opera). Recognizable sounds include thechirping of birds, the voice of an opera singer, a muezzin performing acall to prayer, sine-wave glissandi, digital bells and flutes, andboinging Syndrum tones. The result is a fascinating collage of familiarand unfamiliar noises.